Surprise! Creating guest surprises is harder than it looks…

August 26, 2014

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Spending Budgets Wisely — @ 10:53 am

Last Christmas, the Canadian airline WestJet surprised a plane full of arriving passengers at baggage claim by delivering fully wrapped gifts they had just specifically requested from “Santa” only hours before at their departure gate. (If you haven’t seen that video, grab some tissues and watch it here.)

To date, the WestJet Christmas Miracle video has received nearly 40 million views on YouTube, making it the envy of hospitality marketers around the world. Marketers – and their CEO bosses – watched longingly as the media attention spotlight on WestJet grew brighter and the video view count grew higher, and they all had the same thought: I want a “WestJet video” for MY brand.

Alas, most of them are likely to retire with “I wish I had a WestJet video” still on their career bucket list, and here’s why: surprises – especially of that magnitude – are bloody hard work.

Pulling off a surprise like that requires precision timing, which requires a recipe of planning, staffing, money, creativity, and problem solving. You cannot fumble at the goal line. You cannot plan a “partial surprise.” You can’t get the timing “almost right.” You get ONE SHOT. So you have to make it count, or every bit of investment you put into it is a big ol’ waste.

This leaves no wiggle room for indecision, executive in-fighting, budget paralysis, miscommunication, or distraction from the focus. And that’s a lot to ask of ANY brand, at ANY size. That “little” five minute video required four months of singular planning attention, 150 WestJet employees, an extraordinary budget, and extensive marketing resources in two cities. Such a level of orchestration deserves every bit of brand-envy it receives, because marketers worth their salt know it’s a rare phenomenon.

To determine if your brand has what it takes to successfully leverage the magic of surprise – at any level – ask yourself…

Do we embrace fun?
Do all our in-house departments work together harmoniously, and if not…can they?
Are we comfortable taking risks?
Are we willing to spend unanticipated money if needed to protect the surprise all the way to the finish line?
Do we complete our regular, non-surprise-oriented projects on time, and with precision?

If the answer to any of those questions was “no,” then you should think twice before investing a ton of resources into planning a one-shot-deal surprise for your guests. You will save yourself a lot of misery (and money) by using other tools in your marketing toolbox instead.

Parting tip: If you ARE planning to create a big surprise, keep this in mind…the bigger and cooler the surprise, the higher the bar is set for next time. Case in point: for my keynote address at the Vermont Travel Industry Conference in April, Redpoint surprised the audience of 250 people with beer, pretzels, costume accessories, and a New Orleans style jazz band (watch the trailer). Two months later, the Vermont Ski Areas Association wanted a similar surprise for their annual conference…but what fun would it be to orchestrate the same surprise? So Redpoint cajoled the kind folks at Ben & Jerry’s to create an exclusive ice cream flavor – Vermont Powder – just for that conference, and we delivered it to the audience in a surprise moment punctuated by a song we “wrote.” (Watch the Hot Sardines perform that song here.)

It was all great fun, and we had a blast doing it. But now people start to salivate the moment they hear that I’m the keynote speaker, and (sorry, mom) it ain’t because they think I’m pretty. Lesson learned: human nature = “oooh, what’s next?”

Ah, well. Redpoint is up to the challenge. Save your pity for WestJet…they have to top way more than beer and ice cream.

Why this tiny little Fiat won my big marketing heart.

January 25, 2013

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field, Branding Strategies — @ 9:32 am

If I could give this car a hug, I would.

When I stepped up to the Alamo car rental counter last week to pick up a car for a weekend trip, I could have won a gold medal if “Multitasking” were an Olympic sport. I was schlepping bags, answering emails, planning what to eat for lunch, remembering things I forgot to pack, and just generally unfocused on the task at hand. I rent cars all the time, and I know the drill, so basically, I put that part of my brain on autopilot – license, credit card, initials in a zillion places, give blood and your first born, and so on.

But when the service agent said these words, all distractions disappeared instantly and I snapped to attention like a guard dog on command: “You’re in that tiny little Fiat outside. Would you like to upgrade to something a bit safer?”

Did I snap to attention because I was worried about my safety? Absolutely not. (Mom, if you’re reading this…sorry.) What happened was…the marketer in me became fiercely indignant on behalf of the Fiat brand. All distractions were banished by these thoughts:

Why would a car rental company want to imply that it rents ANY cars that are unsafe?
Do the Fiat sales and marketing executives – who are probably hopeful that people who rent their car could be hooked into buying one – know that their car is being portrayed as “unsafe” at the car rental counter?
Does Alamo script their service agents with this language to scare people into upgrading to a more expensive car? If so…shame on them. If not…perhaps they need a better training program to educate their team how to “sell up” without “putting down.”

As all these thoughts crowded my brain in the span of 10 seconds, I realized that I was staring at the service agent like she had just committed a heinous crime. And perhaps she did, from a branding perspective. But I know that making a fuss about it would probably cast me as an unbalanced lunatic, so I just looked her squarely in the eye and said, “The Fiat is absolutely perfect. I’ll take it.”

Clearly, nothing wins my allegiance faster than a marketing underdog. Fiat, if you’re ever looking for a PR firm in the US, give Redpoint a call. 🙂

Fun with marketing…no matter how boring the product.

December 5, 2012

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Observations From the Field — @ 9:23 am

Recently, while leading a workshop about Effective Presentation Techniques, I shared a secret with the attendees: people like to be entertained. So if you bring fun and joy to whatever you’re selling, you’ll get their attention…and that’s the first step toward ensuring they receive your message.

At the break, one attendee approached me with this lament: “I sell pretty boring products, so making them fun just isn’t an option for me.”

Oh young grasshopper…take heart. With the right perspective, you can make ANYTHING fun. I give you…Jewish food, a Vietnamese restaurant, and men’s razors.

Artful arrangement of Jewish food draws a double-take from passersby on the Upper West Side of NYC.

A Viet-Thai restaurant in Canada draws new patrons with this sassy sign outside their front door.

And seriously…take 1 minute and 30 seconds and watch this commercial for Dollar Shave Club. Who knew selling razors could be so entertaining?

The bottom line is…with the right perspective, you can bring a little bit of humor to any subject – appropriately, of course. Would I recommend adding levity to a speech or ad about child abuse? Absolutely not. But an otherwise dry subject – like razor blades? Heck yes!…it’s a fabulous competitive advantage when you can make people smile.

Want one more smile before you’re done reading this post? Check out our post from last summer to see how this movie theater made their “Don’t Talk or Text During the Movie” warning an absolute riot of hilarity: Alamo Drafthouse Warning. The gang here at Redpoint is STILL chuckling over that one. 🙂

A marketing secret: if you can’t beat ’em…play a different game.

March 27, 2012

Filed under: Trade Show Marketing, Marketing Strategies, This is Cool, Effective Communication — @ 8:57 am

Picture this: you’ve spent a fortune on a gorgeous half-the-length-of-a-football-field booth at the largest trade show in your industry. You haven’t exhibited at this show in years, and you want everyone to know you’re back…and cooler than ever.

But the booth to your left has celebrity chef Guy Fieri doing a cooking demonstration and book signing in their booth…and the booth to your right has Cat Cora doing the same in theirs…and two aisles down is a “Cooking Theater” with a veritable who’s who of celebrity chef demos…Curtis Stone, Paula Deen, Duff Goldman, Michael Symon, Ming Tsai, and a host of other star chefs performing all day long. And sadly, you’ve got no celebrity chefs in your marketing arsenal.

How do you battle such overwhelming star power to make your booth stand out from the pack? Simple: do something TOTALLY different.

And when longtime client Robinson Home Products asked us to help them do that at the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago earlier this month, what’s the first thing we thought of? The Hot Sardines and their tea-kettle-playing-trumpeter (see earlier post).

While everyone else had their just-one-of-the-pack superstar chefs hawking their wares in a traditional and expected way, we had a 7-piece vintage dixieland band drawing crowds to the Robinson booth with hot jazz and gunbucket blues…but with a twist. All of Robinson’s new product introductions were used as musical instruments: graters, cutting boards, tongs, wooden spoons, spatulas, carving boards, cooling racks, pots, pans, mugs, bowls, collapsible funnels, and more. If it had the ability to make a sound…it became a part of the performance.

Never in my life have I seen so many double takes, as passers-by stopped to see where the music was coming from, and then went… “wait…is that guy tap dancing on bamboo cutting boards? And is she playing a cooling rack with a cheese grater?” Watching the realization sink in was fun. Watching all the camera phones, iPhones, and Tweets record it – and share it – was immensely satisfying.

And after three sets of music throughout the day in the booth, and one in the Cooking Theater to help spread the word show-wide, the deal was sealed: Robinson was super-cool and stood WAY out from the crowd. And all of us working the booth at the show finally understood the power of being able to say that coveted line… “Yeah, I’m ‘with’ the band.” Instant coolness.

What’s the lesson here? If you can’t meet your competitors on their turf, and you don’t want to spend the money to one-up them at their own game…don’t play it. Be creative…and redefine the game. Celebrity chefs have been a mainstay of the Housewares Show for more than a decade, but NOBODY expected a band. And that made Robinson unforgettable.

Hats off to The Hot Sardines for embracing this unusual performance request and knocking it out of the park, and you can see them perform seven kitchen-tool-infused songs by clicking here (side note: Some of These Days is my personal fave). The level of product integration they incorporated into their music – without compromising the integrity of their addictive sound – was unreal. They are a group of exceptionally talented musicians and Redpoint feels fortunate to have stumbled upon them at the Lincoln Square Winter’s Eve Festival on the corner of 63rd and Broadway last December.

And…hats off to Robinson as well. Redpoint has brought some quirky ideas to clients before, but not all of them have the guts to take a marketing risk like this. But we’ve been working with them since 2005, and in their words “it’s easy to put trust in Redpoint…you’ve never steered us in a wrong direction.”

Awwww. Warms our little PR hearts, that does.

How to make an impression on long-time, been-there-done-that customers.

January 24, 2012

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field — @ 10:16 am

Every Tuesday and Friday, an amazing “wartime Paris meets Bourbon Street” band called The Hot Sardines plays at The Top of The Standard in NYC’s meatpacking district. Along with an ever-growing base of adoring fans, I’ve sat through several of their performances and can sing along with most of their songs. I know when they’re about to sing a capella, when the washboard is making an appearance, when Miss Elizabeth is going to sing in French, and when the tap dancer is preparing to do something amazing. So…I love them with passion…but I can enjoy them on autopilot.

Then one day a few weeks ago, when I was expecting the trumpet player to start blowing that horn, this happened instead:

Your eyes are not deceiving you. He is playing a tea kettle. And every single person in the room was captivated…even us veteran fans.

Mr. Tea Kettle just proved a very important marketing point: you don’t need to spend a lot of money to break through the comfort zone that develops when long-time customers become “used to you.” You CAN spend money to do it, but sometimes, a little creativity is all that’s needed to keep it fresh.

Some examples from the field:

Last year, MAC Cosmetics launched a “Wonder Woman” collection, and the inside of every Mac store paid highly visible homage to the stunning superhero with larger-than-life cutouts, comic books, promotional displays and more. But how to lure people in there to see all the goodies? The Soho store on Spring Street in NYC did something unusual: they painted the outside of the store a bright fire engine red. Think about it…I’m not sure it made a difference to the tourists (who don’t know what the exterior of the store usually looks like) but for all those “sheep” that walk up and down Spring Street each day without giving a thought to their surroundings…that red building was brightly colored lure that drew the eye like a magnet.

In another example – and a little more expensive than a coat of paint, but worth it – a clever marketing tactic was used to promote the premiere of last season’s episodes of Boardwalk Empire. Set in Atlantic City, the show chronicles the life of a political gangster during the 1920’s and 30’s Prohibition era. So…while they could have just done a traditional subway “wrap” (where all the ads in a single subway car focus on the same business…eye catching, but becoming so common that us regular subway riders are even becoming desensitized to THOSE), instead, they used authentic Prohibition-era vintage subway cars to make their point. Imagine standing at your usual subway station with your iPod on or reading your book or juggling your bags…and then THIS pulls up…

For those readers not from NYC…I assure you…today’s subway cars look NOTHING like this.

But just like the tea-kettle-turned-musical-instrument, you don’t need to pay a hefty price to “borrow” vintage transportation equipment from a city transit system in order to get attention. Saltscapes, a yummy restaurant in Nova Scotia, makes an impression every time a customer goes to open the entryway door:

I’m reminded of the childhood game Duck, Duck, Goose. Think about the mindset of a customer walking in the door. They just spent the whole day (week…month…year…) opening doors with “normal” doorknobs. So…normal, normal, normal…small wrought iron Adirondack chair? Definitely noticeable.

It’s actually quite easy – and often inexpensive – to do tasteful things that will impress your loyal customers. You just have to put a little love into your thought process and remember that if you don’t continue to woo them…they may be wooed elsewhere. A sad but true fact in the marketing world.

And in that random way that concepts sometimes collide unexpectedly…what do you get when you cross The Hot Sardines with the vintage subway cars used to promote Boardwalk Empire? You get a KILLER concert. Check out the 1 minute and 30 second clip by clicking here.

Hmmmm. Attention Boardwalk Empire marketing people…when you’re ready to promote the next season, give the Hot Sardines and their tea kettle a call. They’ll take your subway car to the next level…because even though you only did it once, that sucker is already in the been-there-done-that bucket.

Redpoint is a marketing PR firm based in NYC that helps clients make strong positive impressions on even the most desensitized of journalists. And…we LOVE The Hot Sardines.

Cyber Monday 2011 proves: brand it, and they will come.

November 29, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, The Power of Persuasion, Media Relations, Branding Strategies — @ 3:17 pm

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and now Small Business Saturday. Can you say “baaa baaa?”

Ever heard of Small Business Saturday? No? Don’t worry. Within the next two years, not only will you know about it, but you will feel magnetically drawn to shop at small, independent retailers on the Saturday after U.S. Thanksgiving.

This past November 26th was only the 2nd Annual occurence of this made-up-by-retailers holiday (in this case, American Express), and yet, its Facebook page already has nearly 3 million “Likes.” Impressive, considering that’s the equivalent of the entire population of Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Vermont.

Watching the evolution of retail consumer behavior patterns tied to the U.S. Thanksgiving weekend is a fascinating lesson in branding and the combined power of internet-and-the-media.

Just look at Black Friday vs. Cyber Monday:

The term “Black Friday” first officially emerged as a moniker for the Friday-after-Thanksgiving shopping frenzy in the 1960’s, but it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that it gained widespread consumer awareness and participation. And in fact, it wasn’t until 2002 that it became the season’s biggest shopping day each year, as confirmed by market research firm ShopperTrak. That’s nearly 40 years from launch to goal line.

In stark contrast: Cyber Monday was launched in 2005 by a group called Shop.org as a way to boost online sales and encourage tech-shy consumers to become more comfortable with online spending. (Note: those were “prehistoric times”…high-speed internet was more readily available at businesses than residences…hence, the Monday strategy). By 2006, online spend-tracking firm comScore Inc. reported Cyber Monday as the 12th biggest online spending day of the year. Care to guess when it scored the top spot? 2010. Just five years from launch to goal line.

This acceleration of consumer acquiescence bodes well for Small Business Saturday. It is worth noting that Black Friday didn’t have the power of the internet at its inception, and Cyber Monday (while it obviously had the internet) didn’t have the power of social media or “apps” at ITS inception. But Small Business Saturday has all of these lightening-speed marketing tools in its debut arsenal, and with that, I give you…nearly 3 million Facebook fans and counting in just its second year.

So, how does knowing about this acceleration pattern help your OWN business? Three ways:

Branding something – an annual sale, event, festival, start-of-season opportunity – turns it into a “rallying point” to create excitement, secure partners, and get consumer and media attention. You can do this with ANYTHING, from planting your annual tulip bulbs to the day the first sand castle of the season is erected on your beach. Brand it, create deals and events around it, promote it online and through email blasts, and soon…people will be trained to anticipate it. It provides a “reason to buy.”
Harness the internet to spread the word: post it on calendars, optimize search terms, get partners to extend your email/website/social media audience, do some strategic online advertising, blog about it, send press releases to online media, and more. What used to take decades to gain traction now can take mere months, or even weeks, and with far fewer marketing dollars than ever before.
Ride the coat tails of this massive Thanksgiving weekend shopping power: do you have a deal for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or (perhaps?) Small Business Saturday? Don’t let all that marketing equity (built on someone else’s dime) go to waste. Be ready to join in the frenzy next year.

Of course, you may not have the marketing clout – and budget – of American Express behind you like Small Business Saturday does, but with a bit of focus and a dash of creativity, you can make an impact in your own way. Think that’s not possible? Redpoint made a business-building opportunity out of mud for the New England Inns and Resorts Association. And if money can be made out of mud, surely it can be made out of anything.

Yeah…sometimes, we PR people play dirty.

Note: Lots of research was done to gather information for this blog post, but special thanks goes to Time and the Columbus Dispatch for their very clear and succinct historical articles on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Choose promotions wisely…they may last for 20 years.

November 9, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field — @ 11:37 am

Tell me you wouldn’t wait on line for this. Mmmm.

When Redpoint was hired recently by Nova Scotia Tourism to lead a series of Marketing Boot Camps throughout the province for hospitality professionals, I shamelessly admit that my first thought was: mmmmm, fried pepperoni.

Popular in Atlantic Canada, but shockingly elusive in my hometown of NYC, I had heard about this deliciously indulgent snack (which should probably come with a side of cholesterol medication instead of the traditional honey mustard sauce) and couldn’t wait to try it.

So at 2:30pm on the Saturday afternoon of my stay in Halifax, I finally scored a table at The Maxwell’s Plum (where I saw the coveted item on the menu posted outside)…only to survey my surroundings and wonder if I was going to regret it. Every single empty table was littered with the remains of food & drink, beverage menus were scattered about the floor, and servers were nowhere to be found. Was anyone ever going to clean these tables…or mine, which was free of clutter but so sticky I could actually SEE the residue on the surface?

Suddenly, a waitress appeared out of nowhere and all she said was: “So, are ya havin’ the breakfast then?”

After a quick second thinking how much I adore the “Nova Scotian accent,” which often comes mingled with a crisp Scottish lilt, I realized something: there is “a” breakfast, and I had no idea what it was.

I said no (surely, fried pepperoni can’t be on the breakfast menu, can it?), and asked to see a lunch menu…and man, did that stop her in her tracks! After gaping at me for a moment (and looking pointedly at her watch), she walked away and then came back smiling, with a lunch menu, a glass of water, flatware, a napkin, and a cloth to clean the table. Hooray! I was officially acknowledged as a “real customer!” But what the heck was going on?

Here’s the deal. A few years ago, the pub tried a promotion called the $2 Breakfast: from 11am to 3pm on Saturdays, you get 3 eggs, 5 strips of bacon, toast, and homefries…all for 2 bucks with the purchase of a drink. No one at the pub – not even the manager – could tell me if they ever officially advertised or promoted it…it may have just been word of mouth. But almost from the very first Saturday, the pub was mobbed from exactly 10:59am to 2:59pm, every week, like clockwork. And it’s been that way ever since.

If the goal was to fill tables on previously-slow Saturday afternoons, it was achieved with gusto. I passed the pub several times on my stroll around Halifax before being able to get anywhere near the door, let alone get through the crowds to get a table. But can they really make money on this promotion? The manager’s response:

“Well, a while back, we tried to raise the price to $2.99, and customers had a fit. They kind of stopped coming. So we went back to 2 bucks and the next week, we were packed again.”

Consumer behavior (or “behaviour” since this was Canada, after all) is fascinating. If The Maxwell’s Plum had started their promotion with a $2.99 Breakfast, they would probably still have been packed every Saturday (did you really grasp how much food was on that platter?) and they’d be getting a buck more per person. But they STARTED with the 2 buck price and instantly, that became the “right” of the people. (Footnote: the restaurant was spotless by 3:10pm, which shows that the staff is precisely attuned to the rhythms of these insane Saturday mob scenes.)

I thought about this unreasonable rebellion over 99 cents at 4:30 that same afternoon, when I walked into Your Father’s Moustache, another packed-house pub in Halifax (doesn’t Halifax sound fun?)…but it was packed for different reasons. A fun, funky, groovy blues band – Joe Murphy and the Water Street Blues Band – plays there every Saturday afternoon from 4pm to 8pm, and the crowd of regulars is huge. More than a dozen couples were actually dancing (I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a dance floor, but what the heck, eh?), and drinks and food – at full price – were being consumed like crazy. This has been the routine there for the past 20+ years, and a discount has never been part of the equation. And yet…a packed house.

Did The Maxwell’s Plum or Your Father’s Moustache have any clue when they started those Saturday afternoon promotions that the public was going to latch on to them so tightly, and for so long? Probably not. We all hope that when we try cool promotions, people are going to respond favorably to them…but before you discount too deeply, or lock yourself into something with no end date, just consider how it will impact your financials long term. Just remember, even if you launch something for a “limited time,” you can always extend it if it works. But if you launch it indefinitely and then try to take it away…oh the drama!

There are a few happy endings to this story. 1) Maxwell’s Plum has more than 60 beers on tap, so don’t feel badly for them…they do just fine. 2) The dancers (who welcomed me as a local) at Your Father’s Moustache proved to me that Canadians really are some of the nicest people – and best dance partners – in the world.

And 3)…damn…fried pepperoni is AMAZING.

Want a break at your desk? Check out a tune by Joe Murphy and the Water Street Blues Band by clicking here. Love that killer harmonica, baby.

Marketing strategy post-disaster: No one likes a sore-winner.

August 31, 2011

Filed under: Crisis Communications, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field — @ 10:39 am

The corner of Sixth and Spring looked sad on Monday without the Coffee Guys.

On the Monday morning following Hurricane Irene, I committed heresy: I bought coffee from the cart vendor across the street…NOT from My Guys. I had no choice…for the first time in 9 years My Guys weren’t there, and abstaining from coffee seemed a foolish allegiance that would merely leave me thirsty, caffeine-deprived, and yet still unsure of their safety.

So, I crossed the street with a heavy heart…and thus began my lesson in dog-eat-dog, post-hurricane marketing tactics.

This “understudy” vendor was aggressively courting all his newfound customers, and enjoying every moment of it. Kudos to him for recognizing an opportunity (“I no see you here before…happy to meet you”)…and shame on him for crossing the line (“You come here ONLY from now on, yes?…This best coffee in neighborhood, no one else good.”). I walked away with no promises, unsurprised to hear him tell the next woman in line that she is his “prettiest customer of all time,” …as I apparently was just a moment ago.

Later, as I sat at my desk reflecting on the cutthroat nature of the NYC coffee cart vendor industry (and now vowing coffee abstinence until the Guys return), the post-hurricane promotional email blasts from undamaged hotels in the Northeast started piling up in my in-box. And the parallels to Mr. Coffee Understudy’s tactics – but on a much grander scale – were startling.

Essentially, the intended message to consumers was the same: despite the sensational news reports of widespread flooding and damage in the Northeast, our hotel was undamaged and we are open for business this Labor Day weekend and beyond. But the strategies used to actually communicate that message were vastly different…and not one of them reflected well on the image of its hotel. The reason? No one likes a sore winner.

It’s totally understandable that hotels open for business don’t wish to be painted with the same “devastation brush” the media has loosely applied to the Northeast…especially now, when the high occupancy weeks of summer, Labor Day weekend, and fall foliage season make the stakes so high. But if you find your property in this situation, here are some tips for that email blast to prevent you from looking like an uncaring ogre trying to capitalize on others’ misfortune:

Timing: wait until the initial outpouring of sympathy and drama has passed before sending ANY promotional emails out.

Tone: you can’t express believable compassion for the victims alongside a cheerful offer of a “3rd night free with extended pool hours”…the crass jumble of emotions just screams “all’s fair in love and marketing.” Be appropriately respectful and less blatantly promotional.

Humor: does not belong in ANY post-disaster marketing communication. More than one Northeast property created a “Weakend Guest” package or message, which is a clever play on words likely not appreciated by the thousands of people who suffered severely by this storm’s strength.

Incentives: what should your call to action be in this case? True, bookings are always a goal, but given the situation, is this really the right message for this particular promotional blast? Perhaps your first outreach should be clarification of facts – you are open, you sustained no damage, you feel fortunate, and your heart goes out to your less fortunate neighbors.

Grace and Class: being promotional and pushing incentives is bad enough on its own…actually referring to your devastated competitors shows extremely poor taste. Messages along the lines of “Vermont got slammed, but we here in Maine are open for business and the sun has never been brighter!” really cast you as a villain.

You would be smart to anticipate that your current reservations for the next few weeks may be at risk…but the best way to solidify them is to speak directly to those guests. Send them an email, give them a call…whatever. Just give them the facts: their reservation is safe, the roads are open (are they?…provide alternate directions if necessary), and their vacation is ready for their arrival.

After the initial drama of the disaster has subsided, you can always trawl for new customers, just like you always would. Then, at that time, no mention of the disaster is necessary. Just make sure enough time has passed before you start kicking up your cheery tone.

Here in NYC, Redpoint weathered Hurricane Irene unscathed, though we are working round-the-clock on crisis response right alongside some of our Northeast hospitality clients who were less fortunate. We’re delighted to report that overall, our clients are a hearty bunch of New Englanders who gracefully take their licks and are eager to get back in the game.

And now that our Coffee Guys have returned to their corner (safe and sound, thank goodness), the gang here at Redpoint is all fueled up and ready to help them do that.

Extra virgin olive oil gelato, mud, and elk bugling: essentials for a PR toolbox.

July 21, 2011

Filed under: Marketing Strategies, Media Relations — @ 11:05 am

Who could walk by this board without at least looking at the first flavor?

The sign next to the L’Arte del Gelato cart stopped me in my tracks. Extra virgin olive oil gelato? Really? While the thought of it didn’t actually make me salivate, anyone with a spirit of adventure (and Italian heritage in her DNA) would not pass up the chance to try this odd-sounding flavor.

The verdict after a sample taste? Let’s just say that I won’t be forgoing hot fudge for olive oil any time soon.

But that one little taste was all it took to seduce me into buying a cup of Madagascar vanilla – $3.25 for a tiny cup that became a memory in 3 minutes – and, while waiting, studying the flavor menu committed me to a return visit (who wouldn’t go back for Nocciola delle Langhe?).

Curiosity prompted me to ask the server if the EVOO gelato is a popular flavor. His answer: “everyone comes in to taste it…and then they order something else.”

Hats off to L’Arte del Gelato, then, for a spectacular use of “intriguing weirdness” as a marketing hook. The flavor gets top billing on the menu board, and they produce it regularly, knowing full well that very few people are really going to order it. And damn if that gateway drug doesn’t transition people right into getting addicted to “the good stuff.”

The moral here? When done tastefully (no pun intended), a little weirdness can be just the lure you need to cut through the clutter and grab people’s attention. When Redpoint launched Mud Season Packages for the New England Inns & Resorts Association, we heard from several member properties that consumers who inquired about the quirky mud experience usually converted to a more “traditional” package booking (but they booked). And when we created Elk Bugling packages for Gateway Canyons Resort, the same thing happened…media loved it and consumers were intrigued by it, but the increase in bookings had people rafting, biking, and horseback riding…NOT mastering the obscure art of elk bugling.

Business owners and brand managers often resist creating a package, product, or service that they know isn’t really going to sell, but the PR value alone can achieve an enviable ROI just by drawing eyes (and click-thrus) to the brand. As long as it doesn’t cost too much to create, or require intense operational resources, a notably unusual offering can earn its keep just by luring in potential customers…and the rest is up to you.

And to the creative marketing folks at L’Arte del Gelato? I see your EVOO gelato, and I raise you sundaes topped with insects, people chewing glass, and the spiritual benefits of shrinking your enemy’s head. Ha! Didn’t know that Redpoint represents Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Times Square, did ya? Thanks to Ripley’s – the nirvana of odd things – we can pretty much take anyone in a “Quirky PR Throwdown.”

You can’t find love on a spreadsheet.

June 29, 2011

Filed under: Customer Service, Marketing Strategies, Observations From the Field, Spending Budgets Wisely — @ 9:57 am

(Updated March 2022)

Who doesn’t love free dumplings?

While dining at Buddakan a while back, I ordered the Cantonese spring rolls appetizer and mischievously asked the waiter if I could possibly try one Szechuan pork dumpling…just because I couldn’t decide between the two dishes. He winked conspiratorially at me (which I took as a hopeful yes) and went off to the kitchen.

When the food runner came to the table with my spring rolls and my companion’s tuna tartare, I was a bit disappointed. Did I misconstrue the wink?

But then…the waiter himself appeared at my side, bearing – not one – but an entire plate full of pork dumplings. As he set them in the center of the table, he said: “Enjoy these with my compliments. I know you will want more than one when you taste them.” (side note: he was right)

Now…if you own a restaurant, hotel, or even retail shop, did that story make you cringe? Were you thinking, “Damn. If my staff gave away free stuff to every customer who asked for it, I’d go out of business tomorrow.”

But would you? Let’s do the math.

Buddakan lost out on the $10 or $12 it would have earned from me for the dumplings. But, on the flip side:

I ordered an extra glass of champagne, which I wouldn’t have, sans dumplings ($18)
The following week, I told a friend that story and she went there two weeks later with 6 friends ($200 at the bar…$500 at the table)
A month later, I took an out-of-town guest to Buddakan because I had told her the story and she wanted to try it ($175)

So that $10 or $12 expense turned out to be an investment that earned the restaurant nearly $1,000…and that’s just the ROI I know about. Who knows how many people this positive incident actually drew into Buddakan? When you pay it forward like that, it’s impossible to trace the exponential positive effect on your bottom line.

And there lies the problem the hospitality industry has faced for the past few years.

The pandemic has forced us all to become obsessed with spreadsheets, numbers, and tangible-only spending. If the ROI can’t be traced, tracked, maximized, or guaranteed, we’re not spending that precious dollar. We’ve had to cut staff, cut hours, cut amenities, cut benefits, even close our doors temporarily…all for the sake of making those spreadsheets jive and surviving a brutal phase in the hospitality industry’s life cycle. And guess what inadvertently disappeared with all those cuts? Much of the love, fun, warmth, and graciousness that puts the “hospitable” in hospitality. We can’t translate them into tangible revenue streams on our spreadsheets and so…they simply don’t get factored into our decisions.

Well, friends…it’s time to bring them back. People are tired of hearing “no,” and businesses that de-commoditize their experience with fresh infusions of positivity will attract guests with enviable magnetism. And in this age of social media…when word of mouth is more powerful than ever…creating a pool of evangelists is never a bad thing.

Be inspired by the dumpling incident. Regain your faith in the power of goodwill and invest in finding ways to make your customers feel loved. And if your CFO balks at any modest investments you may make, just add a new line item to your revenue spreadsheet:

The Dumpling Effect: Priceless.